Serbian artist Marina Abramovic has been called the grandmother of performance art. Her works have often involved pain and endurance. In Art Must Be Beautiful, her iconic 1975 performance-for-video, she agressively combs and brushes her long hair, teasing it up, while repeating 'art must be beautiful, artist must be beautiful'. Her voice and expression betray her pain. In watching the video, one senses that the camera has taken the place of a mirror. Abramovic's simple act is open to interpretation. It has been seen as exemplifying a feminist critique of expectations on women to be beautiful, and yet it is compelling viewing precisely because the artist is so beautiful. The work can be read as masochistic, but also as ascetic—with the artist entering a trance-like state, 'freeing body and soul from the restrictions imposed by culture and from the fear of physical pain and death'.

Friday, 22 January 2010

The Brisbane Anime Society is having a screening this Saturday January 23 at QUT Gardens Point campus. The screening starts at 4pm and goes to 8pm, and it costs $3 - only $2 if you're a member of the BAS; you can sign up as a member at the screening for $10. The screening is in D Block - see below for a link to a Google Map showing how to get there.

The West End Film Festival is looking for Australian short films to show at the Festival on Sunday March 28th 2010 at the Rumpus Room in Russel St, West End. Films need to be submitted by Friday February 12th 2010. They say they're looking for all genres and they encourage you to enter if it's your first time making a film, and they also actively encourage "Aboriginal, queer, political, punk, experimental, and creative filmmakers".

The best way to get to White Canvas gallery by public transport is to catch a 300, 306 or 322 bus from Stop 23 in Adelaide St in the city, and get off at Stop 6 on Wickham St in the Valley, right near the Valley swimming pool. Keep walking 50 metres or so in the same direction that the bus was going and turn left into Church St - the gallery is at number 26, on the left hand side. Click here for a Google Map showing the bus stops.

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Brisbane artist Braidy Hughes is opening her exhibition "the painted girl" at Inspire Gallery Bar, 71 Vulture St West End, at 7pm this Thursday, January 21st. The exhibition runs until Wednesday January 27th.

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

On Sunday January 24th 2010, Brisbane City Rollers are holding a Fresh Meat day - a day for people (ages 18+ only, sorry) new to roller derby to come and try the sport out and see if they'd like to join a serious league. Brisbane City Rollers is unique in Queensland as they have a league for men and women - most roller derby leagues are women-only.

The Fresh Meat day is from 4.45 pm - 6.45 pm, and it's $12 for the session. If you don't have skates or protective gear you can hire them for an extra $10. (You have to wear the protective gear to train).

Sunday, 17 January 2010

The Lifeline Bookfest opened yesterday at the Convention Centre in Merivale St, South Brisbane, and it runs till Sunday January 24th. It's an enormous second-hand book sale which happens twice a year and it's about the best way to get your hands on second-hand books in Brisbane.

Tuesday, 12 January 2010

I found both of these photos in the Brisbanites group on Flickr, a photo-sharing website. I think they're both really creepy, and I probably wouldn't have wanted to take these shots myself. (Yes I know they're probably harmless, that's not the point, is it now?)

Click on the links below each photo if you want to see more about the animals in them.

If you're getting to the Globe Theatre by public transport, you can catch a train to Fortitude Valley station, walk out from the station onto Brunswick St, turn right and the theatre is literally about 100 metres away. Or you can catch a 370, 375 or 379 bus from the bus stop on Adelaide St in the city near the corner of Ann St, and get off at stop 211 on Brunswick St. You have to cross Brunswick St and then keep walking the same way the bus was going - you'll be at the Globe Theatre after only 200m or so. All these stops are shown on the Google Map, and you can use Translink's journey planner to find bus and train timetables.

The exhibition features personal items of Welsby's such as letters, scrabooks, trophies he donated to sports clubs, journal articles he wrote, and a restored painting H Strongithearm-Wilkinson of his home in New Farm.

There's a special morning tea at the Royal Historical Society of Queensland at 10am on Tuesday January 11 to open the exhibition. Entry to the morning tea is by a gold coin donation, and if you plan to go please phone the Society on 3221 4198 so they can plan the catering properly. If you're not able to go to the morning tea, the exhibition is open from 10am to 4pm Tue-Fri until the end of 2010. The exhibition is in the museum at the RHSQ's Comissariat Store building at 115 William St Brisbane - click here for a Google Map. The best way to get there is to catch the free city loop bus from Ann St to the William St, almost directly opposite the Society's HQ - all the bus stops you'll need to know are on the Google Map, and you can use the Translink timetable finder to see times fo the free city loop bus.

The collective says their parties are "multi-art experiences that are interactive, participatory, beautifully chaotic and unlike anything else...something like a warehouse party thrown by Andy Warhol and the Dresden Dolls".

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

I have absolutely no idea where this photo was taken, except the photographer (Flickr user Peter___V) says it's somewhere in (or rather, under) Brisbane. The photo is in the Brisbane urbex group on Flickr, which seems to be a group for people who like exploring usually unseen parts of the city.

Saturday, 2 January 2010

These are two of my favourite photos from Flickr of Brisbane's fireworks on New Year's Eve Both of these photos are by Flickr user EloCTre, and she's released them under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives licence, which means you can use the photos for any purpose (including commercial purposes) but you can't change the photos to use them in a new work.

You can click on either of the photos to go to their page on Flickr where you can find out more about the photo, or download it for your own use.

And if you'd like to see more photos of the Brisbane New Year's Eve fireworks, there's a slideshow below of more Flickr photos - if you can't see the slideshow, click here to browse the photos.

Brisbane Blog

Welcome to the Brisbane Blog. If you're on holiday in Brisbane, or if you live here and you've got some free time on your hands, you might be wondering about what things there are to do.

The Brisbane Blog lets you know about free, cheap, fun or exciting things going on in Brisbane: meetups, roller derby, burlesque, music, cult movies, local artists, anti-censorship protests, plays, and film festivals, just for a start. I especially like to promote Creative Commons in Brisbane.

My photos on Flickr

Photos from the Brisbanites group on Flickr

Creative Commons Licence

All material THAT I HAVE CREATED on this blog is available for re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence, meaning that you can use it and/or alter it for any reason, including commercial purposes, as long as you attribute it by including a link to http://brisbaneposts.blogspot.com .

ALSO REMEMBER that just because I took a photo of a person and released it under Creative Commons, that doesn't mean you have their permission to use their image for commercial purposes. If I can put you in touch with that person to discuss your signing a model's release, then I will.

Please note that I do NOT own the copyright in most of the photos and videos on this site, so CHECK before you use them.